Mangaluru: The city police arrested five men in connection to an incident in which three men intercepted a person who was riding a scooter and escaped after stealing Rs 16.2 lac from him.
At a press conference held on Friday March 26, police commissioner N Shashi Kumar said, “Rs 95,000, a bike and car was seized from them. The cash which the accused stole was hawala money.”
The miscreants have been identified as Mohammed Rifath from Ullal, Ashfaq from Faisalnagar working in APMC, Jaffer Sadiq who runs sand business at B C Road, Mohammed Ismail, a Dubai returnee, and Mayyadi, is a driver from Padubidri.
Shashi Kumar said that the head of the hawala racket is yet to be arrested. Another 6 to 7 people are yet to be arrested in this case and investigation is in progress. Three cases are registered against Mohammed Rifath, three against Ashfaq and one case against Ismail at different police stations.
“The complainant had claimed that the said cash was for purchasing clothes and gold ornaments for the marriage of his niece. But there was no such marriage. That cash was hawala money,” he said. He added that Abdul Salam, the complainant, had already made such transactions several times involving huge amounts. This time it was Rs 16.2 lac.
“The agent and sub-agents were paid Rs 8,000 salary for hawala transactions by the kingpin. We have also received information that soon after the incident, 2 to 3 accused fled to Dubai.”
“Ismail and Ashfaq are coordinators, Rifath, Sadiq are hired robbers while Mayyadi is an agent,” he said.
